Paul Offord | FE Week

Time to celebrate many achievements of colleges, Halfon tells conference

The achievements of the FE sector are a cause for huge celebration, apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon has told college leaders. He was upbeat in a speech this afternoon to the Association of Colleges annual conference, in Birmingham, stressing that every town should be proud of its college. Mr Halfon, who was given the […]

Greening appeals for reforms support from across ‘technical education family’

The first Association of Colleges conference address by Justine Greening, as education secretary, saw her appeal for support with delivering reforms from across the “technical education family”. Ms Greening, who was appointed to the post in July, called for widespread backing for the apprenticeship levy launch next April, and a slimmed down “high quality” post-16 FE system […]

Colleges can thrive despite ‘blizzard of changes’, AoC boss tells delegates

This year’s “blizzard of changes” will not stop the Association of Colleges pushing for progress over the coming months, new chief executive David Hughes has told a packed audience in his key note speech at this year’s annual conference. Mr Hughes acknowledged that the FE sector had faced the challenges of Brexit and the appointment […]

Lord Sainsbury demands more cash for technical education

Key government skills advisor Lord Sainsbury has urged ministers to take a more realistic view of the cost of high quality technical education and increase funding, as it implements recommendations on a slimmed down system. His ‘Report of the Independent Panel on Technical Education’ was a key influence on the government’s subsequent skills plan, which […]

Bolton college principal appeals to SFA over new apprenticeship rules

A desperate principal has pleaded with the Skills Funding Agency to relax rules that would prevent Bolton College from recruiting new apprentices from May next year. On October 25 the SFA launched an application process for the new register of apprenticeship training providers, but those with the lowest Ofsted rating for the apprenticeships are barred […]

Government meddling blamed for 2 year apprenticeship delays

Government meddling has meant that students didn’t start on some apprenticeship standards for two years after they were launched. Using the latest Skills Funding Agency data FE Week examined the first standards given government sign-off in 2014. We found two had no starts at all in that academic year or in 2015/16, while low numbers […]

Education secretary commits to focusing ‘much more’ on FE

A firm commitment has been made by education secretary Justine Greening to “focus much more” on FE. She made the encouraging comments during a speech at an event in London today to celebrate the Education Endowment Foundation’s fifth anniversary. Ms Greening admitted that the government had “for a long time” focused mainly on improving academic […]

Carmichael backs more FE investment as he rejects new grammars

New grammar schools have been rejected by influential education select committee chair Neil Carmichael, who called instead for more investment in the “much neglected” FE sector. The Tory MP (pictured) said in a new blog for conservativehome.com it would be wrong of the government to lift the ban on these selective secondary schools, with the intention […]

Outstanding Ofsted for Fashion Retail Academy

A glowing ‘outstanding’ Ofsted report has been published today on independent training provider the Fashion Retail Academy. Inspectors returned grade one verdicts across the board, with managers and governors praised for establishing “a culture of excellence that results in very high achievement for learners”. The performance of the London-based provider was an improvement on the […]